Snow tops the South Sister as Christian Henkel of Bend paddles on Sparks Lake during a sunrise photo shoot with Lake Tahoe photographer Riley McClaughry on Tuesday. 

Don’t blink Central Oregon or you might miss the early winter view.

Over the weekend, the last days of summer left a dusting of snowfall over the Cascade mountain range, including Mount Bachelor and the Three Sisters.

But the unseasonable blanket of snow is not expected to last long, according to the National Weather Service station in Pendleton.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if it melts,” said Joe Solomon, a weather service meteorologist . “We are too early in the fall and not close enough to winter to see accumulating snowfall in the mountains.”

Most of the snow fell Friday and early Saturday morning above 6,000 feet , higher than the weather service is able to accurately measure, Solomon said.

Because overnight temperatures were above freezing over the weekend, Solomon suspects the snow was melting as it fell, leaving just enough to paint the mountains.

“That was an early fall-like system that came through,” Solomon said. “It’s the final indication that summer is over and we are heading into the fall season.”

Fall officially begins Wednesday, but the weather forecast will stay summer-like over the next week.

High temperatures in Bend will be above 80 degrees and lows will be above 50 degrees, according to the weather service.

The outlook for October calls for cooler temperatures and more precipitation, which could bring more snowfall to the mountains later in the month. But the immediate forecast only shows sunshine and warm temperatures, weather not cold enough to keep the snow around, Solomon said.

“We would need to be in a prolonged wet pattern with cold temperatures for it to accumulate,” Solomon said. “At this point in time, I don’t see that.”